Professional Credentials have long been a part of the construction industry and many different credentials are available to the construction professional. Due to the number and variety of professional credentials it is often times difficult for individuals to decide which credentials are most advantageous to their career. ASC member schools with construction management programs have been conservative in the number and variety of professional credentials supported by their respective schools. ASC member schools have also not mirrored the construction industry in their support for certain professional credentials. This paper surveys the department heads of ASC member schools to decipher how they are incorporating professional credentials into their programs

JD Darren A Olsen

PhD, JD J Mark Taylor

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Professional Credentials – What Associated Schools of 
Construction (ASC) Members Are Doing  
 
J. Mark Taylor, PhD, JD and Darren A. Olsen, JD 
Auburn University 
Auburn, Alabama 
 
Professional Credentials have long been a part of the construction industry and many different 
credentials are available to the construction professional.  Due to the number and variety of 
professional credentials it is often times difficult for individuals to decide which credentials are 
most advantageous to their career.  ASC member schools with construction management programs 
have been conservative in the number and variety of professional credentials supported by their 
respective schools.  ASC member schools have also not mirrored the construction industry in their 
support for certain professional credentials.  This paper surveys the department heads of ASC 
member schools to decipher how they are incorporating professional credentials into their 
programs. 
 
Keywords:  Credentials, Professional Credentials, License, Licensure, Professional Licensure. 
 
 
Introduction 
 
Obtaining a professional credential from a third party entity has become a major industry in itself over the past forty 
years.  As an association becomes entrenched in our construction economy a certificate of competency is sure to 
follow.  The building industry has seen this occurrence take on a heightened level over the past couple of years as 
the LEED rating system has become popular in the commercial sector of the building industry.  Various LEED 
initiatives are currently found in federal agencies (13), states (45), localities (195), public school jurisdictions (17), 
and institutions of higher education (39) across the United States (USGBC 2009); adding fuel to the fire. 
 
Professional credentials differ from a professional license as there is usually no government oversight involved in 
the credentialing process (Wiki 2009).  Groups that historically have required a license to engage in its practice 
include medicine, law, engineering and architecture.  One of the first associations to grant a license was the Royal 
College of Physicians.  The Royal College was founded in 1518 for the specific purpose of “granting licenses to 
those qualified to practice and to punish unqualified practitioners and those engaging in malpractice” (Royal College 
2009).  Arguably, the practice of law has the oldest roots going back to the early Greek and Roman civilizations.  
However, the first state to initiate a formal licensing requirement for lawyers was Delaware in 1763 (Wiki 2009).  
Following in a similar fashion, engineering began a licensing requirement by the late-1700s, and architecture in the 
late 1800s (Wiki 2009). 
 
All states have licensing requirements, that vary somewhat, for those engaged in the practice of law, medicine and 
engineering.  However, states are unanimous when it comes to general contractors in that no individual license is 
required in order to be involved in the industry.  All states have licensing requirements for general contracting 
businesses; but this does not necessarily require an individual to have a license (NOCA 2009).  A few states (e.g., 
Florida) do require an individual to have passed the general contractors exam before the company can get a license 
that is good throughout the state (i.e., certified contractor).  However, this provision only applies to a single 
individual in a given company and one can obtain a “registered contractors” license that is good only in a specified 
county without meeting the more stringent requirements of a certified contractor (Fla. Stat. § 489.103 2009). 
 
A number of organizations offer professional credentials that have gained popularity in at least some of the sectors 
of commercial construction.  Among these are the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Design Build 
Institute of America (DBIA), the Project Management Institute (PMI), the American Institute of Constructors (AIC), 
and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).  OSHA was the first to offer credentials for constructors beginning 
soon after its formation in 1970.  OSHA, a part of the U.S. Department of Labor, is also the only governmental 
organization offering a credential.  OSHA offers a 10-hour training course and a 30-hour training course for 
contractors (OSHA 2009).  The DBIA offers the Associate DBIA and the Professional DBIA designations based on 
education, testing and experience (DBIA 2009).  The PMI offers certificates demonstrating proficiency in a number 
of areas; scheduling, risk management, program management and project management.  The PMI was founded in 
1969 and soon afterwards began its certification program for the Project Management Professional (PMP) (PMI 
2009); one of the most recognized designations world-wide with a reach well beyond the bounds of construction.  
The AIC was founded about the same time as these other organizations (1971) and offered a credential since its 
inception.  However, it was only in 1994 that the AIC began a testing requirement for their Associate Constructor 
(AC) and Certified Professional Constructor (CPC) designations (AIC 2009).   
 
The USGBC, founded in 1993, began offering its LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) examination and 
related designation in 2001.  Since then, more than 100,000 have become credentialed as LEED AP making it the 
most sought after designation in the current construction economy.  LEED 2009 was introduced this past spring with 
a new two-prong designation system whereby the first designation will be the LEED GA (Green Associate) to be 
followed up after the candidate has some project experience with the LEED AP+ designation (USGBC 2009).  Two 
points should be brought out with this change.  First, it appears that an unstated goal of the USGBC is to provide a 
mechanism whereby students will seek the LEED GA designation more readily than they sought the LEED AP 
designation in the past.  Second, one of the stated requirements of taking the LEED GA exam is to have completed a 
course in sustainability.  It is unclear as to whether the USGBC’s intent with this requirement is to sell more of its 
own courses or to encourage university programs to provide the sustainable construction course allowing their 
students to meet the eligibility requirement. 
 
Each association or entity has its own reasons why one should seek its particular designation and the benefits that it 
will provide the individual.  Among these reasons are many common threads that transcend the goals of the 
associations.  “Three trends act together to make professional certification important to both the organization and the 
individual.  First, university degrees no longer represent, if they ever did, the ultimate measure of professional 
knowledge and capability.  A certification, by measuring job-related expertise, more closely reflects an individual’s 
capacity to perform.  Second, the downsizing of corporations, coupled with teaming, outsourcing, and temping, has 
forced professionals to take control of their own careers independent of their employers.  A certification, awarded by 
a third party, endorses skills beyond the requirements of a specific position or role.  Third, the business environment 
requires almost constant training, development, and professional involvement beyond one’s particular job title.  
Certification programs, especially through their recertification requirements, provide guidance to individuals 
working to stay current in their profession” (Barnhart, 1997).     
 
While many construction management (CM) programs are an integral part of an engineering or architecture college, 
the degree offered by the CM component is typically separate and distinct from the latter.  By far, the most common 
degree offered to CM students is a bachelor of science degree, often with an area of expertise appended to the title.  
As very few opportunities exist for the constructor to seek a recognized “professional” designation such as 
professional engineer (PE), the construction industry offers fertile ground for third part credentials that allow 
construction students or practitioners to set themselves apart from their peers (Zimmerman 2008).  CM programs 
encourage these credentials in a variety of ways, either directly or indirectly.  The purpose of  this study is to 
determine what CM programs are doing as a way of encouraging or requiring a particular credential as a part of the 
CM degree program.  A follow up study is planned that will look at the ethnicity of such action. 
 
 
Methodology 
 
The objective of this research is to identify which credentials are being offered at ASC schools; how they are being 
managed, and if they are incorporated into the curriculum.  The ASC is a professional association dedicated to the 
development and advancement of construction education.  As such, ASC member schools, which are primarily 
located in the United States, have a focus on construction education.  To conduct this research, an online survey was 
sent to the department heads of all 128 ASC member schools.  Twenty-nine (23%) valid responses were received. 
 
The survey included a number of specific questions about the credentials being offered at ASC schools.  As 
previously mentioned, this paper focuses on the following four survey questions: 
 
1. What third-party credentials does your school offer? 
2. Who pays the cost associated with this certification? 
3. Is the credential associated with a class offered at your school? 
4. Is the student's grade in the associated class dependent upon the receipt of this credential? 
 
 
Results and Analysis 
 
The most common credential offered through ASC programs is the 10-hour or 30-hour OSHA certification.  Ninety 
percent of the respondents reported that their program required the students to complete the OSHA training course 
(Figure 1).  Seventy seven percent of these schools required the 30-hour course while twenty three percent required 
the 10-hour course.  The next most popular credential offered is the AICs Associate Constructor credential.  It is not 
surprising that these two top the list as the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) requires at least 
one credit hour in construction safety and the OSHA certification is obtainable by the student at no fee if it is offered 
through a safety course in the CM curriculum.  Similarly, the AIC Associate Constructor credential is offered to 
those who have completed a four-year construction curriculum with a fee of $155 required to take the exam (AIC 
2009).  
 
Somewhat surprising to the authors of this paper are the next two results. The PE Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) 
exam was offered by thirty eight percent of those responding to the survey.  This is surprising as only 14% of the 
ASC CM programs offer an engineering degree (ASC 2009).  This can only be explained by a higher percentage of 
the engineering based programs responded to our blind survey than non-engineering based programs.  The other 
somewhat surprising result is that those schools offering the LEED credential only comprised twenty four percent of 
those responding to the survey. 
 
Over the past few years a heightened awareness has been placed on building sustainable facilities.  This may be a 
result of higher oil prices, a renewed emphasis on global warming, the popularity of former Vice-President Al 
Gore’s Academy Award winning film, the federal government’s initiative to build more efficient buildings, or 
simply because we think it is the right thing to do.  As such, much more media exposure is placed on the LEED 
credential and many employers pride themselves on the number of LEED AP employees they have.  While a number 
of CM programs are incorporating sustainability in their curricula, it is not evidenced by the relatively few schools 
supporting the LEED credential.  One can appropriately argue that sustainable construction is not the LEED system, 
that LEED is simply one avenue to promote or showcase your sustainable efforts – and that there are other 
measuring devices available.  The authors do not disagree, we only note that the USGBC has been very successful in 
promoting the LEED system in commercial construction as evidenced by the number of projects that have received 
certification (over 3,800) and the number of projects that have been registered in 2009 (almost 9,000) (USGBC 
2009).  By any measuring stick, this represents an outstanding growth record in such a short period of time.     
 
Figure 1 shows the professional credentials which are offered at the ASC schools represented by our 29 respondents.       
Figure 2 shows the number of respondents that incorporate a given credential program vs. those that do not.  As one 
can easily see, only OSHA and AIC show more CM programs include credentialing from these associations than 
CM programs that do not.  One item that should be noted in this figure is that while the PMI has one of the strongest 
member bases with over 265,000 members and that a number of universities associated with the ASC are PMI 
providers; no respondents to our survey reported a CM program providing a PMI credential as a part of their 
program. 
 
Figure 3 distinguishes itself from Figure 1 in that not only are the professional credentials offered at the respective 
ASC schools, but are also formally incorporated into a class.  Ninety percent of the schools offered an OSHA course 
and all ninety percent were a part of a course provided by the CM program as a part of its curriculum.  While the 
AIC–AC credential was offered at 72% of the CM programs it is was only part of a class in 48% of CM programs.  
Similarly, the number of CM programs offering the LEED or PE credential is approximately twice the number of the 
programs that incorporate these credentials into their coursework.  Figure 4 represents a follow up question to the 
results in Figure 3.  In approximately one-half the instances when the credentialing process is incorporated into a 
class, the passage of the test or gaining the credential is considered in evaluating the student’s performance in the 
class; i.e., it becomes part of the student’s grade (Figure 4).  The other half the time it simply is a course requirement 
and the student’s grade is not affected by passing the credentialing test. 
 
The last item that is reported in the first part of the study is who bears the cost of obtaining the credential.  In sixty 
four percent of all instances when a credential is offered, the student is required to pay his own way (Figure 5).  The 
credential may be required as a part of the curriculum but the student receives no monetary assistance with the cost 
of the examination.  Thirty six percent of the time the school does absorb the cost of the exam either using school 
funds (thirty percent of the time) or using external funds (six percent of the time). 
 
 
 
Figure 1 – Third-Party Credentials Offered at ASC Schools 
 
 
 
Figure 2 – Credentials Offered by ASC Schools 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 3 –Third Party Credentials Offered as a Part of the Curriculum 
 
Figure 4 – Class Grades Based on Receipt of Credential 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5 – Who Pays the Cost of the Credential 
 
Conclusion and Trends 
 
 One thing seems clear from the results we received -- that ASC schools are generally conservative in the number of 
professional credentials they support and incorporate into their curriculums.  It also appears, as evidenced by the 
marginal support for the LEED credential that ASC schools lag behind the industry in supporting a new credential 
and adopting it into their curricula.  There is a direct correlation between those credentials which are incorporated 
into a class and those credentials which are offered at ASC schools.  The results also suggest that for the majority of 
professional credentials which are offered, students are expected to pay for the testing and certification costs. 
 
As we all are aware, changes in the curriculum and coursework at ASC schools is not easy and does not happen 
quickly, but as evidenced by the popularity of the OSHA certifications, if a credential can be incorporated in the 
course work it is more likely to be offered at an ASC school.  It would be reasonable to assume that one reason some 
professional credentials such as LEED have not received wide range support from ASC schools is the difficulty of 
marrying it to a specific class.  It also appears that for the majority of professional credentials ASC schools are 
comfortable leaving the choice and responsibility in the hands of the student and not commingling them into their 
respective curriculums. 
 
References 
 
AIC (2009), Benefits from Constructor Certification, Tampa, FL, American Institute of Constructors. 
 
ASC (2009), Regional Directory, http://ascweb.org/, Associated Schools of Construction. 
 
Barnhart, P. A. (1997), The Guide to National Professional Certification Programs, 2nd ed., London, CRC Press, 
Taylor & Francis Group. 
 
DBIA (2009), Eligibility & Program Requirements: Designated Design-Build Professional™ Certification 
Programs, http://www.dbia.org/, Washington, DC, Design-Build Institute of America. 
 
Fla. Stat. § 489.103 (2009), Regulation of Professions and Occupations, Construction Contracting, Florida Statute. 
 
NOCA (2009), What is Certification?, Washington, DC. National Organization for Competency Assurance. 
 
OSHA (2009), OSHA Assistance for the Construction Industry,  http://www.osha.gov/, Washington, DC, U.S. 
Department of Labor.   
 
PMI (2009), PMI's Global Standards Program, Newtown Square, PA, Project Management Institute, Inc.  
 
Royal College (2009), History & Heritage, http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/Pages/index.aspx, London, Royal College 
of Physicians. 
 
USGBC (2009), Green Building Certificate Institute, http://www.gbci.org/, Washington, DC, U.S. Green Building 
Council. 
 
Wiki (2009), Licensure, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&oldid=322172151, Wikipedia, The Free 
Encyclopedia. 
 
 Zimmerman, G. (2008), The Advantages of Earning a LEED AP Credential, FacilitiesNet.Com, Milwaukee, WI, 
Trade Press Media Group.  
 
 


Professional Credentials -What Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Members Are Doing

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Professional Credentials -What Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Members Are Doing

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